An in-line roller skate includes a plurality of wheels rotatable in a common plane and carried by a frame attached to a skate boot. An in-line skate, then, has a lateral support base equal to the width of contact between the wheels and the skating surface, typically on the order of about 0.5 centimeters. This narrow support base makes balancing on the wheels difficult, especially for the novice skater.
While balancing in the forward/rearward direction is usually only a matter of experience, balancing in the sideward or lateral directions is a matter of sufficient ankle strength and of adequate lateral ankle support from the skate boot. That this difference exists arises from the anatomy of the lower leg and foot, which allows lateral flexibility and provides little support to an individual's ankles in the lateral direction. A skater's ankle therefore has a tendency toward lateral bending. In sum, because an in-line roller skater has to balance on a plurality of wheels rotating in a common plane and having minimal surface contact with the skating surface, the provision of lateral ankle support is an important factor in proper, safe, and enjoyable use of an in-line skate.
When searching for a way to increase lateral ankle support, it was observed that the boots used for downhill snow skiing provide the additional support sought after.
To solve the problem of inadequate ankle support, then, the ski-type boot was adopted for use on in-line roller skates with minimal modification. But in doing so, a boot designed for cold weather has been widely adopted for use in the warm and often very hot weather conditions that in-line skaters encounter. The result has been that the skater's feet are often hot, damp, and uncomfortable in the tight, nonporous, and stiff ski-type boots.
Ski boots are generally formed of a nonporous, synthetic material such as polyeurathane. These boots include a rigid shell that securely supports a skier's ankle and protects the foot from injury. The rigidity of the shell also provides the skier with better control over the long skis extending forwardly and rearwardly of the boot than would be provided by a boot made of a flexible material such as leather. Because of the nonporous nature of the boot material, they do not breathe and allow no air flow through the walls of the boot. In addition, ski boots are constructed to minimize air exchange between the inside of the boot and the cold skiing environment, striving to retain body generated heat. As a result, extensive heat accumulates in the boot during skate use. Such heat is generated in the boot due to often high ambient temperatures associated with the warm summer days when skating is done, from frictional movement of the foot within the boot, from increased circulation of blood to the feet and lower legs due to vigorous skating activity, from heat transfer from wheels and wheel bearings which heat up during prolonged skating, and from the often very hot asphalt or concrete skating surface. Skating surfaces such as black asphalt, which readily absorb solar and infrared radiation become very hot, and significantly increase temperatures within the boot. Finally many of the boots have a black or dark coloration that readily absorbs solar heat. All these factors contribute to heat build up in the boot.
Besides the problem of heat buildup within the boot, moisture from a skater's perspiring foot also accumulates in the boot in response to the warm boot and physical activity. As with the heat build-up, the moisture accumulation is due primarily to an inability of air to circulate into and out of the boot and carry such moisture away, but the excessive heat aggravates the moisture accumulation problem because the skater's foot perspires more with increasing heat levels in an effort to remain cool and to perform its share of dissipating the heat generated by the rest of the body during skating activity. The end result of the heat and moisture problems is that the presently available boots are much less comfortable to use than a skater would desire.
In addition, the synthetic material ski-type boot utilized by in-line skates, while providing excellent lateral stiffness and rigidity for lateral ankle support, provides unnecessary as well as unwanted forward/rearward stiffness and rigidity. This boot characteristic inhibits the performance abilities of the skate because it limits the range of motion of the skater's legs and feet and therefore the ability of the skater to utilize the full extent of his muscular strength.
A third shortcoming of the ski-type boot is its heavy weight and thick wall which were needed by the skier for downhill skiing. This weight posed little problem for a skier relying generally on gravity for forward downhill motion and where one's foot need not be lifted from the ground. An in-line skater, by contrast, must generally provide his own forward impetus and is constantly lifting his feet as he strides, moving the foot and skate forward. The heavy boot fatigues a skater, making the use of an in-line skate less enjoyable.
Thus a need exists for an in-line roller skate boot that is conceived and built with in-line skaters and not snow skiers in mind, that provides skaters with a more comfortable, enjoyable use by cooling and drying their feet; that increases the forward/rearward range of motion available to a skater while preserving the lateral ankle support desired by in-line skaters, and that weighs less and is less fatiguing to use.